#he literally implied detransitioners werent real people and werent marginalized

[shirkers2018dirsanditan]

the issue with certain lgbt advocacy orgs, a great example being the uk’s stonewall, is that they have unfortunately adopted some of the most extreme tenets of ‘gender identity theory’ (? for lack of a better descriptor). so the existence of detrans people is reacted to with hostility or suspicion because they are a threat to a part of that ideology (‘because these people inherently are this thing no one who has these experiences would ever want to detransition’ etc). this is really damaging bc it means that they effectively have foregone protecting dysphoric individuals (and gay people, in many ways) and especially dysphoric teen girls. any talk of introducing other options for dysphoric individuals as alternatives for those who probably shouldn’t transition or as a precursor before the serious medical intervention that transition is is offered, is viewed as inherently anti-trans rather than people pro-dysphoric people’s ability to access varied healthcare as though transitioning works for some, it verifiably does not work for everyone and is offered to children at younger and younger ages as a catch-all solution when often there’s other factors at play (misogyny, CSA, neglect, body dysmorphia, eating disorders, autism in girls, etc). I’m probably just saying things you already know but it’s just disastrous for everyone when advocacy orgs give up serving the interests of people they supposedly represent, bc none of this protects trans people in any way. it just makes them more liable to being taken advantage of by medical professionals and surgeons who ultimately have their own monetary investment in trans healthcare that is obviously highly suspicious on its own

tbh i don’t think it has anything to do with “gender identity theory” as you put it and more to do with two facts: 1) lgbt orgs, like many social orgs, have long had a sexism problem, and 2) lgbt orgs have become increasingly corporate over the past few decades. detrans people are very inconvenient if you want to make money off of unregulated medical treatment that you have no training to perform. like, in the 60 minutes piece, one of the psychologists to work at the first gender clinic in the US pointed out how several unlicensed clinics have popped up all over the country that dont follow the WPATH guidelines or even the basics of informed consent….and i am aware of many detrans people that criticize the affirmative model, but even people who have pioneered that model are raising concerns. which is why i think like yes, differing views on gender are relevant, but it’s a facade for these deeper issues that have long existed, you know? it’s not actually anything new even if though its an unprecedented situation. if that makes sense lol

but i do agree with a lot of what you are saying, in that it leaves all dysphoric people out in the cold. people not only deserve safe medical treatment, but they deserve proper informed consent and follow up. what is unacceptable is clinics that posit themselves as reducing harm and providing aid, when what they’re really trying to do is skirt the guidelines to make money off of people who are sometimes in a desperate or difficult situation. thats also why these conservative bans on treatment are not designed to help anyone (obviously) because they are only going to force people into a more desperate posture. they also offer no meaningful remedy or reform or regulation. but of course we know they don’t care. what hurts is lgbt orgs participating and defending these kinds of practices. and it does have the effect of limiting self-expression and self-conceptualization by pushing this idea that you HAVE to medically transition to be authentic, which is what’s often stated in the cruel backlash to detrans women in particular. that they aren’t/weren’t “real” trans people. but what does that mean exactly? and how is that determined? obviously a lot of these women are reidentified, but what about those who aren’t? or are somewhere in the middle? what about trans people who have regrets? who have, for lack of a better word, botched procedures? who don’t respond well to blockers or hormones? what are they supposed to do if organizations that purport to represent them are hellbent on maintaining a culture of silence around these issues? why tell kids who are still developing their sense of self that this is the primary or sometimes only path they can take, as too many orgs do? why create new binaries if you’re claiming to want to eliminate them? a lot of the implications of this discourse are the same old essentialism, and that’s a problem. but that is what happens when you have movements that despite their reliance on and overlap with feminism, opt not to meaningfully challenge gender as a system of oppression. and men across the board have had this problem, it’s just that men in the lgbt community aren’t any exception